Method and apparatus for priority based coexistence arbitration

ABSTRACT

A coexistence system including a first transceiver module in a first network device, generating a first request signal that requests transmission or reception for the first transceiver module, and operating according to a first wireless communication standard. An interface, based on the first request signal, generates a first priority signal, which indicates a first priority level of first data signals. A second transceiver module is in the first network device and generates a second request and priority signals. The second transceiver module operates according to a second wireless communication standard. The second request signal requests transmission or reception for the first transceiver module. The second priority signal indicates a second priority level of second data signals. An arbitration module (i) based on the first and second priority levels, arbitrates the first and second request signals, and (ii) based thereon, selectively connects antennas to the first and second transceiver modules.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This present disclosure claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/694,654, filed on Aug. 29, 2012, U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/578,200, filed on Dec. 20, 2011, U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/578,199, filed on Dec. 20, 2011, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/576,297, filed on Dec. 15, 2011. The entiredisclosures of the applications referenced above are incorporated hereinby reference.

The present disclosure is related to U.S. Non-provisional applicationSer. No. 13/715,023, filed concurrently herewith on Dec. 14, 2012, andU.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No. 13/715,253, filed concurrentlyherewith on Dec. 14, 2012.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication and wirelessnetworks.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Stations of a network can directly communicate with each other whileoperating in an ad hoc mode, or indirectly communicate with eachother—via an access point (AP)—while operating in an infrastructuremode. Each of the stations can be a desktop computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a laptop, a personal computer (PC), aprinter, a digital camera, an Internet protocol (IP) phone, etc. Each ofthe stations typically includes a host device and a wireless networkinterface, in which the host device transmits and receives signals viathe wireless network interface.

A wireless network interface of a station can be compatible with one ormore wireless communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution(LTE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX),Bluetooth (BT), Wi-Fi, and wireless local area network (WLAN). Each ofthe communication standards can be have respective frequency operatingbands. The frequency operating bands can overlap and/or be adjacent to(or sequentially after) each other.

A wireless network interface can include one or more receivers. Areceiver can be susceptible to desensitization, which degrades operationof the receiver. Desensitization occurs when a first signal “drowns out”a second signal (or signal of interest). A first signal desensitizes thesecond signal. This occurs when signals are transmitted in the same oradjacent frequency bands. Although filters can be used to filter outnoise and/or signals outside of a frequency band of interest, theability of the filters to prevent desensitization due to signalstransmitted in the frequency band of interest and/or in adjacentfrequency bands is limited.

SUMMARY

A coexistence system is provided and includes a first transceivermodule, an interface, a second transceiver module, and an arbitrationmodule. The first transceiver module, in a first network device, isconfigured to generate at least one first request signal. The firsttransceiver module operates according to a first wireless communicationstandard. The at least one first request signal requests transmission orreception for the first transceiver module. The interface is configuredto generate a first priority signal based on the at least one firstrequest signal. The first priority signal indicates a first prioritylevel of first data signals corresponding to the at least one firstrequest signal. The second transceiver module, in the first networkdevice, is configured to (i) generate at least one second requestsignal, and (ii) generate a second priority signal. The secondtransceiver module operates according to a second wireless communicationstandard. The at least one second request signal requests transmissionor reception for the first transceiver module. The second prioritysignal indicates a second priority level of second data signalscorresponding to the at least one second request signal. The arbitrationmodule is configured to (i) based on the first priority level and thesecond priority level, arbitrate the at least one first request signaland the at least one second request signal, and (ii) based on thearbitration of the at least one first request signal and the at leastone second request signal, selectively connect antennas to the firsttransceiver module and the second transceiver module in one of multipleconfigurations.

In other features, a method is provided and includes generating at leastone first request signal via a first transceiver module in a networkdevice. The first transceiver module operates according to a firstwireless communication standard. The at least one first request signalrequests transmission or reception for the first transceiver module. Afirst priority signal is generated via an interface based on the atleast one first request signal. The first priority signal indicates afirst priority level of first data signals corresponding to the at leastone first request signal. At least one second request signal and asecond priority signal are generated via a second transceiver module.The second transceiver module is in the network device and operatesaccording to a second wireless communication standard. The at least onesecond request signal requests transmission or reception for the firsttransceiver module. The second priority signal indicates a secondpriority level of second data signals corresponding to the at least onesecond request signal. Based on the first priority level and the secondpriority level, the at least one first request signal and the at leastone second request signal are arbitrated. Based on the arbitration ofthe at least one first request signal and the at least one secondrequest signal, antennas to the first transceiver module and the secondtransceiver module are selectively connected in one of multipleconfigurations.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description, the claims and the drawings. Thedetailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a wireless network deviceincorporating a coexistence system in accordance with one implementationof the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a spatial multiplexing table for a dual antenna setup inaccordance with one implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is another spatial multiplexing table for a triple antenna setupin accordance with one implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 1 with priority based arbitration.

FIG. 5 is another spatial multiplexing table with transmitter andreceiver specific entries in accordance with one implementation of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates frequency ranges for multiple wireless communicationstandards.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating coordinated use of an uplinkperiod of a first wireless communication standard for signals of anotherwireless communication standard in accordance with one implementation ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are timing diagrams illustrating protection of signalstransmitted using a first wireless communication standard in accordancewith one implementation of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are timing diagrams illustrating use of uplink anddownlink periods of a first wireless communication standard forscheduled power save triggered signals of another wireless communicationstandard in accordance with one implementation of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are timing diagrams illustrating use of uplink anddownlink periods of a first wireless communication standard forunscheduled power save triggered signals of another wirelesscommunication standard in accordance with one implementation of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a coexistence method associated with theimplementations of FIGS. 7-10.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a coexistence system thatperforms priority based arbitration in accordance with oneimplementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a priority table for signals of multiple wirelesscommunication standards in accordance with one implementation of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method of operating the coexistence systems ofFIGS. 1 and 12.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram of another coexistence system withdedicated antennas in accordance with one implementation of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method of operating the coexistence system of FIG.15.

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram of a portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 15 illustrating potential desensitization detection viamasks.

FIG. 18 illustrates a method of operating the portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram of a portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 15 illustrating scan based arbitration for WLAN.

FIG. 20 illustrates a method of operating the portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram of a portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 15 illustrating scan based arbitration for BT.

FIG. 22 illustrates a method of operating the portion of the coexistencesystem of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a timing diagram illustrating a discontinuous or data receivecycle.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network device 10. The wireless networkdevice 10 may be referred to as a station and includes a host module 12and a wireless network interface 14. The host module 12 may be, forexample, a control module or processor of the wireless network device10. The host module 12 generates signals to be transmitted to one ormore stations 15 in a network 16 via the wireless network interface 14and/or receives signals from the network via the wireless networkinterface 14.

The wireless network interface 14 includes a coexistence system 17 thatincludes a first communication module 18, a second communication module20 and a switch module 22. The first communication module 18 includes afirst transceiver module 24, which may include a media access control(MAC) module 26 and a baseband module 28. The first transceiver module24 may (i) transmit signals received from the host module 12 to theswitch module 22, and (ii) transfer signals received from the switchmodule 22 to the host module 12. Transceiver modules disclosed hereinmay be referred to as transceivers. The baseband module 28 may bereferred to as a physical layer (PHY) module. The baseband module 28 maytransmit and receive, for example, signals conforming to LTE, WiMAXand/or other mobile wireless standard (MWS) standards. Example frequencychannels (or frequency ranges) for MWS are shown in FIG. 6.

The baseband module 28 may include filters 30, such as band rejectfilters (BRFs), for filtering signals transmitted to and/or receivedfrom the switch module 22. The filters 30 can be used to reject signalstransmitted and/or received by the second communication module 20 and/orprotect against MWS hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)transmissions. A MWS HARQ transmission may refer to an acknowledgement(ACK) signal transmitted in response to received data. The ACK signalprovides an acknowledgement and does not include data. A MWS HARQ signalmay be transmitted by the first transceiver module 24 and/or received bythe first transceiver module 24. The filters 30 can aid in preventingHARQ transmissions from interfering with other MWS transmissions and/ortransmissions associated with the second communication module 20. TheBRFs can be used to protect the transceiver modules 32, 34 fromtransmissions by the first transceiver module 24 and/or to protect thefirst transceiver module 24 from transmission by the transceiver modules32, 34. This includes protecting the transceiver modules 32, 34 againstMWS HARQ transmissions.

The second communication module 20 may include a second transceivermodule 32, a third transceiver module 34 and a coexistence arbitrationmodule 36. Although the second communication module 20 is shown having aparticular number of transceiver modules, second communication module 20may have any number of transceiver modules. As an example, secondcommunication module 20 may have additional transceiver modules thanthose shown. The transceiver modules 32, 34 may (i) transmit signalsreceived from the host module 12 to the switch module 22, and (ii)transfer signals received from the switch module 22 to the host module12. The second transceiver module 32 may transmit and receive signalsconforming to, for example, WLAN and/or Wi-Fi standards. The WLANstandards referred to herein may include standards that satisfy IEEEstandards 802.11-2012, 802.16-2009, and 802.20-2008. The thirdtransceiver module 34 may transmit and receive signals conforming to,for example, BT standards. An example frequency band for WLAN, Wi-Fi andBT is shown in FIG. 6. A frequency band may include one or morechannels.

A channel may include one or more frequencies. Although not shown, eachof the transceiver modules 32, 34 may include a MAC module and a PHYmodule with corresponding filters. The filters may include, for example,bandpass filters (BPFs), which may permit passage of signals transmittedfrom and/or received by the second communication module 20 whilepreventing passage of signals transmitted from and/or received by thefirst communication module 18. The bandpass filters may be used toprevent passage of MWS HARQ transmissions to and from the secondcommunication module 20.

The transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may be referred to as collocatedradios since the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 are in a single wirelessnetwork device. Each of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may operatein a transmit mode, a receive mode, a receive idle mode, and/or a powersave (or sleep) mode. While operating in the transmit mode, thetransceiver modules are actively transmitting packets to the switchmodule 22. While operating in the receive mode, the transceiver modules24, 32, 34 are actively receiving packets via the switch module 22.While operating in the receive idle mode, the transceiver modules 24,32, 34 are powered and are monitoring a channel for packets. Whileoperating in the receive idle mode, the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34may not be receiving packets. While operating in the sleep mode, thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 are power down or are minimally powered(certain elements powered down while other elements are remainedpowered). One or more receiver elements and/or control elements of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may remain powered to receive packetsand/or may be awaken subsequent to predetermined periods of time. Thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may not be in the same mode, but rathermay be in different operating or power save modes.

The coexistence arbitration module 36 may determine allocatedtransmission and reception times for each of the transceiver modules 24,32, 34 and may generate a switch control signal SW to control states ofswitches 38 in the switch module 22. The switch module 22 is connectedto two or more antennas 40. The states of the switches 38 dictate whichof the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 are connected to the antennas 40and are permitted to transmit and/or receive signals via the antennas40. This allows the antennas 40 to be shared by the transceiver modules24, 32, 34. Spatial multiplexing and/or time division multiplexing (TDM)may be used to implement the sharing of the antennas 40, as is furtherdescribed below. Spatial multiplexing allows for maximum throughput,which reduces a number of times signals are retransmitted due to errors.A reduced number of transmitted signals, reduces the number of overallbits transmitted and reduces the associated power consumed. For example,the transceiver modules 24, 32 may share two or more of the antennas 40using TDM. TDM may be performed on a per frame or packet basis. As anexample, antennas 40 may be switched between different ones of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 prior to transmitting each frame and/orpacket.

As another example, one or more of the antennas 40 may be connected toeach of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 to allow each of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 to receive signals via the switch module22 during the same period. In one implementation, each of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may be connected to a respective one ofthe antennas 40 while receiving signals during the same period. Inanother implementation, two or more of the transceiver modules 24, 32,34 are connected to and use the same antenna during the same period. Inanother implementation, one or more of the transceiver modules 24, 32,34 are each connected to two or more of the antennas 40. The coexistencearbitration module 36 and the switch module 22 provide a configurablemultiple input multiple output (MIMO) architecture.

The coexistence arbitration module 36 performs arbitration betweentransmission and reception requests REQ1, REQ2, REQ3 received from thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34. These requests REQ1, REQ2, REQ3 may betransmitted from the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 to the coexistencearbitration module 36 via signal lines between the transceiver modules24, 32, 34 and the coexistence arbitration module 36. The coexistencearbitration module 36 allocates transmission time periods for each ofthe transceiver modules 24, 32, 34, which may be indicated viarespective configuration signals CONF1, CONF2, CONF3 transmitted via thesignal lines. Although the coexistence arbitration module 36 is shown asbeing included in the second communication module 20, the coexistencearbitration module 36 may be external to the second communication module20 and/or included in the first communication module 18.

The coexistence arbitration module 36 may perform arbitration based on aset of arbitration rules, which may be programmed into the coexistencearbitration module 36 and/or a memory accessible to the coexistencearbitration module 36. Firmware stored in the coexistence arbitrationmodule 36 and/or the memory accessible to the coexistence arbitrationmodule may include the arbitration rules. The arbitration rules mayinclude priority rules and antenna selection rules, examples of whichare provided and described below.

The coexistence arbitration module 36, the switch module 22 and theantennas 40 may be used to perform spatial multiplexing and/or timedivision multiplexing (TDM). Spatial multiplexing refers to thetransmitting of data signals in an environment over multiple paths inspace. The environment may be, for example, a line-of-sight environmentor a rich-scattering environment. A line-of-sight environment refers toan environment where the data signals are transmitted directly betweenstations without interference from one or more other objects locatedbetween the stations. A rich-scattering environment refers to anenvironment when the data signals transmitted between stations and arereflected off of one or more objects between the stations. In arich-scattering environment there is no direct “line-of-sight” betweenthe antennas of the stations. The encoded data signals, or streams, aretransmitted over parallel paths and from each of multiple antennas. Thespace dimension is reused or multiplexed more than one time. Bits of adata stream are multiplexed over multiple antennas. An increase inspatial multiplexing refers to an increase in the number of parallelstreams that can be transmitted. Spatial multiplexing may includetransmitting different symbols of a symbol sequence over differentantennas

TDM refers to the multiplexing of multiple transmit signals and/orreceive signals in time using one or more antennas. The transmit signalsand the receive signals may satisfy one or more of the stated wirelesscommunication standards.

Two or more antennas may be used to increase transmission range andthroughput of one of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34. Thetransmission range is increased by increased power of transmit signalsdue to the use of two or more antennas, as opposed to transmission froma single antenna. The same signals transmitted using a single wirelesscommunication standard may be transmitted from multiple antennas therebyincreasing the power of the signals. The transmission range may also beincreased by using maximum ratio combining (MRC) for received signals.MRC provides enhanced link reliability. Throughput may be increased viaa MIMO architecture, as provided in FIG. 1. This includes transmittingsignals via multiple antennas using one or more of the above mentionedwireless communication standards.

The transceiver modules 24, 32 may be used to access the Internet. Twoor more of the antennas may be connected to the first transceiver module24 and the second transceiver module 32 using TDM. In one implementationand when both of the transceiver modules 24, 32 are active, the firsttransceiver module 24 may be connected to a first one of the antennas 40while the second transceiver module 32 may be connected to a second oneof the antennas 40. This may occur, for example, during access point(AP) discovery by the wireless network device 10 and/or during ahandover of the wireless network device 10 between APs. In anotherimplementation, one of the transceiver modules 24, 32 may be in a sleepmode while the other one of the transceiver modules 24, 32 is in anactive mode. The active one of the transceiver modules 24, 32 may usetwo or more of the antennas 40 while the other one of the transceivermodules 24, 32 is in the sleep mode.

Referring also to FIG. 2, a spatial multiplexing table for a dualantenna setup is shown. The spatial multiplexing table may be used bythe coexistence arbitration module 36 as an antenna rule set to followwhen allocating selected ones of the antennas to the transceiver modules24, 32, 34. In the spatial multiplexing table, 2×2 entries indicate that2 antennas are used for transmit and receive. Each of the antennas maybe used for transmission and each of the antennas may be used forreception. As an alternative, one of the antennas may be dedicated fortransmission and the other one of the antennas may be dedicated forreception. A 1×1 entry indicates that a single antenna is used for bothtransmit and receive. The first column and the first row of the spatialmultiplexing table identify the transceiver module that is active.Although the spatial multiplexing table is provided for a two antennaimplementation, a similar table may be used for implementations havingmore than two antennas. Use of the spatial multiplexing table may bereferred to as static spatial multiplexing technique.

In accordance with the spatial multiplexing table, when only one of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 is active, both antennas may be used fortransmit and receive for the active transceiver module. When thetransceiver modules 32, 34 are active, spatial multiplexing may be usedto share the antennas between the transceiver modules 32, 34. Thisallows each of the transceiver modules 32, 34 to use both of theantennas during allocated time periods.

When the transceiver modules 24, 32 are active, then the firsttransceiver module 24 may use one of the antennas for transmit andreceive and the second transceiver module 32 may use the other one ofthe antennas for transmit and receive. When the transceiver modules 32,34 are active, then the second transceiver module 32 may use one of theantennas for transmit and receive and the third transceiver module 34may use the other one of the antennas for transmit and receive. Althoughnot shown in FIG. 2, when all of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 areactive, the transceiver modules 32, 34 may share one of the antennas andthe first transceiver module 24 may use the other one of the antennas.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, another spatial multiplexing table for atriple antenna setup is shown. In the spatial multiplexing table, thefirst column identifies the transceiver module that is active. The2^(nd), 3^(rd) and 4^(th) columns identify the number of antennasallocated for one of the transceiver modules. For example, the entry ofthe 2^(nd) row and the 2^(nd) column indicates that when only the firsttransceiver module 24 is active, all three of the antennas are allocatedfor the first transceiver module 24. Although the spatial multiplexingtable is provided for a three antenna implementation, a similar tablemay be used for implementations having two or more antennas.

Based on the spatial multiplexing table, when only one of thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 is active, the active transceiver modulemay use all of the antennas. When two or more of the transceiver modules24, 32, 34 are active, the active transceiver modules may share use ofthe antennas.

When two or more of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 are active, theantennas may be shared and/or allocated as provided in the spatialmultiplexing table. The allocation of the antennas may be dynamicallychanged based on the arbitration rules and/or transmit and receivestates of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 and the switch module 22.

In FIG. 4, a portion 100 of the coexistence system of FIG. 1 is shown.In FIG. 4, the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34, the coexistencearbitration module 36 and the switch module 22 are shown. FIG. 4illustrates at least some of the signals transmitted between thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 and the coexistence arbitration module36. Each of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 transmits a transmitrequest signal, a receive request signal, and a priority signal to thecoexistence arbitration module 36. The transmit request signals TX1-3,receive request signals RX1-3, and priority signals PRIO2-3 for thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 are shown. The transmit request signalsrequest transmission of packets from the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34to the switch module 22. The receive request signals request receptionof packets from the switch module 22.

The priority signals indicate a priority level of signals beingtransmitted to or received from the switch module 22. The prioritysignals may provide, for example, a 2-bit value or 3-bit valueindicating a priority level. The priority signals may indicate a signaltype, such as user data, configuration data, connection setup data,association data, authentication data, audio data, scan data, etc. Anypriority level may be given to a given signal type. Associations betweenpriority signals and signal types may be programmable. Examples ofsignal types and associated priority levels are shown in FIG. 13. Eachof the priority levels shown in FIG. 13 may have a corresponding valuethat is indicated via the priority signals.

The coexistence arbitration module 36 may transmit grant signals to thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 indicating whether transmission orreception of packets is granted. The coexistence arbitration module 36may transmit grant information of transceiver modules to other modules.For example, grant information of transceiver modules 32, 34 may be sentto the transceiver module 24. The transceiver module 24 may then accessselected antennas, transmit and/or receive based on the received grantinformation for the transceiver modules 32, 34. The coexistencearbitration module 36 generates the grant signals and the switch controlsignal based on the arbitration rules. Example antenna configurationsare shown in FIG. 5, which may be set based on the arbitration rulesand/or the grant signals.

In FIG. 5, another spatial multiplexing table is shown with transmitterand receiver specific entries. Although the spatial multiplexing tableis for a certain number of antennas, the spatial multiplexing table maybe modified for additional antennas. The first and second columns andthe first and second rows of the spatial multiplexing table identify thetransceiver module and the corresponding mode in which the transceivermodule is operating. The remaining entries in the spatial multiplexingtable identify a number of antennas allocated for each mode of thecorresponding transceiver module. The remaining entries are in a X,Yformat, where X identifies the number of antennas allocated for the modeand transceiver module identified for the corresponding row, and Yidentifies the number of antennas allocated for the mode and transceivermodule identified for the corresponding column. For example, in the 3rdrow and the 6^(th) column a 1,1 entry is provided. This means when thefirst transceiver module 24 is in a transmit mode and the secondtransceiver module 32 is in a transmit mode, one of the antennas 40 isallocated to the first transceiver module 24 and the other one of theantennas 40 is allocated to the second transceiver module 32. Althoughthe spatial multiplexing table is provided for a two antennaimplementation, a similar table may be used for implementations havingmore than two antennas.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 6, five example frequency ranges, multiplechannels and a band for multiple wireless communication standards areshown. Corresponding operating modes are also shown. The operating modesinclude a time division duplex (TDD) mode and a frequency divisionduplex (FDD) mode. The transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may operate in theTDD mode or FDD mode depending upon the frequency range and/or channelin which signals are being transmitted and/or received.

The first frequency range, referred to as band 40, includes frequencies2300-2400 mega-hertz (MHz). The second frequency range, referred to asthe industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band, includes frequencies2400-2483.5 MHz. The ISM band may include multiple channels, such aschannels 1-79. The third frequency range includes frequencies 2500-2570MHz. The fourth frequency range, referred to as band 38, includesfrequencies 2570-2620. The fifth frequency range includes frequencies2620-2690 MHz. The third frequency range, fourth frequency range and thefifth frequency range are collectively referred to as band 41. The thirdfrequency range and the fifth frequency range are collectively referredto as band 7.

The first transceiver module 24 may operate in the first, third, fourthand/or fifth frequency ranges. The transceiver modules 32, 34 mayoperate in the second frequency range. The transceiver modules 32, 34may operate in the TDD mode when operating in the first frequency range,second frequency range and fourth frequency range. The first transceivermodule 24 may operate in the FDD mode when operating in the thirdfrequency range and the fifth frequency range. Although certainfrequency ranges and operating modes are shown in FIG. 6, thetransceiver modules 24, 32, 34 may operate in other frequency rangesand/or operating modes. The ISM band is adjacent to band 40 and band 41.Band 38 is adjacent to band 7.

As an example, transmission of MWS signals in bands 7, 38, 40, 41 candesensitize a receiver receiving WLAN and/or BT signals in the ISM band.As another example, transmission of WLAN and/or BT signals in the ISMband can desensitize MWS signals received in one or more of bands 7, 38,40 and 41. Thus, transmission of WLAN and/or BT signals can desensitizereceived MWS signals. Bands 7, 38, 40 and 41 are referred to as MWSbands.

Referring again to FIG. 1, TDM, TDD, and FDD coexistence techniques maybe used to transmit and/or receive signals using multiple wirelesscommunication standards. These techniques may include transmittingand/or receiving signals using a first one of the wireless communicationstandards while transmitting and/or receiving signals using another oneof the wireless communication standards. This may be based on thefilters used, the number of antennas, the states of the switch module,and the bands used by the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34. FIGS. 7-10provide examples of TDM coexistence when operating in TDD and FDD modes.

The wireless network device 10 may operate as a client (e.g., a mobilephone), a station and/or as an AP. The wireless network device 10 and/orone of the transceiver modules 24, 32, 34 of the wireless network device10 may be referred to as a local device. A station and/or AP that is incommunication with and is remotely located from the wireless networkdevice 10 may be referred to as a remote device. The local device maynot have information indicating whether the remote device is to transmitone or more spatial stream signals to the local device. A spatial streamsignal may refer to a signal that is transmitted on a particularfrequency using a signal antenna. If two spatial stream signals aretransmitted, each signal may be transmitted on a different frequency andusing different antennas. The local device may transmit a signal to theremote device indicating whether the local device is configured toreceive a single spatial stream signal, multiple spatial stream signals,and/or MIMO packets. The local device may transmit a signal indicating anumber of spatial stream signals that the local device is configured toreceive to the remote device. The local device may indicate to theremote device that the local device is not configured to receivemultiple spatial stream signals and/or mimo packets. The local devicemay transmit multiple spatial stream signals when granted access to twoor more antennas (e.g., two or more of the antennas).

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 7, a timing diagram illustratingcoordinated use of an uplink period of a first wireless communicationstandard for signals of another wireless communication standard isshown. Although the coexistence technique associated with FIG. 7 isprimarily described for the MWS and WLAN (or Wi-Fi) wirelesscommunication standards, the coexistence technique may be used for otherwireless communication standards.

Downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) periods 120, 122 available for MWStransmissions are shown. The periods 120, 122 may be of any length andmay occur at any time. As an example, the periods 120, 122 may beassociated with the LTE FDD (band 7). The DL band is far away from theISM band, thus desensitization and/or effects on received signals areconsidered null. The period 120 is shown as an example, and may not beprovided. At a given time, UL or DL of MWS transmissions may beperformed. In a given period, a pattern of ULs and DLs may be performed.A UL indication signal TxON may be transmitted by the first transceivermodule 24 to the second transceiver module 32 to indicate that a MWSsignal is to be transmitted within a first predetermined period from therising or falling edge of the UL indication signal TxON. The secondtransceiver module 32 may have information received from the firsttransceiver module 24 and/or the host module 12 indicating that a MWSsignal is to be transmitted: within a first predetermined period; and/orfinished being transmitted within a second predetermined period. Thesecond predetermined period may begin at the rising or falling edge ofthe UL indication signal TxON.

The UL indication signal TxON may be transmitted to the secondtransceiver module 32 via a coexistence interface (e.g., secondcoexistence interface in FIG. 15). The time period in which a MWS signalis transmitted is referred to as a used UL period. There may be a delayperiod DELAY between the pulse of the UL indication signal and the usedUL period. WLAN or Bluetooth signals may be transmitted and/or receivedin an unused portion of the MWS UL period that is not used to transmitMWS signals. The time period that is used for transmitting WLAN signalsmay be referred to as the unused UL period. The unused UL period mayinclude the portion of the UL period 122 that is not part of the used ULperiod.

In FIG. 7, signals of the second transceiver module 32 are shownillustrating when the wireless network device 10 is not operating in anAP mode and when the wireless network device 10 is operating in an APmode. While in the AP mode, the wireless network device 10 is operatingas an AP.

While the wireless network device 10 is not operating in the AP mode,the second transceiver module 32 may transition to the power save mode(PM) after detecting the rising edge of the UL indication signal TxONand during the UL used period. The second transceiver module 32 maytransition to the power save mode (PM) prior to, at, or subsequent tothe beginning of the UL used period. This may occur after a first delayDELAY1. The second transceiver module 32 may indicate to an access point(AP) when the wireless network device (or station) 10 is in the PM modevia a PM signal indicating the same. The second transceiver module 32may transmit the PM signal and/or other indication signal to the AP. Thesecond transceiver module 32 and/or the wireless network device 10 maybe in the PM mode when the PM signal is a 1 and may be in an active modewhen the PM signal is a 0. The other indication signal may indicate thata certain channel of a transmission medium is to be used for a MWS ULtransmission.

The AP may be referred to as a group owner (GO) and may, in response tothe PM signal or other indication signal, send out a notice of absence(NoA) signal to stations in an independent basic serve set (IBSS) and/ornetwork of the AP. The NoA signal may indicate that the channel and/ortransmission medium are reserved for MWS transmission and for a NoAperiod. The NoA signal may be transmitted by the wireless network device10 when the wireless network device 10 is operating in the AP mode.

The second transceiver module 32 may transition to the active mode(PM=0) at an end of the UL used period. The length of the UL used periodmay be indicated to the second transceiver module 32. The firsttransceiver module 24 may transmit a status signal to the secondtransceiver module 32 indicating lengths of UL periods, DL periods,and/or UL used periods. The status signal may be provided via the hostmodule 12. Example status signals are shown in FIGS. 12 and 15. The endof the UL used period may be a predetermined amount of time from therising and/or falling edges of the UL indication signal. As an example,the end of the UL used period may be a second delay DELAY2 from therising edge of the UL indication signal. The second transceiver module32 may transition to the active mode based on a length of a MWS ULperiod.

The first transceiver module 24 may operate in the FDD mode or the TDDmode. The MWS signal transmitted during the UL used period may betransmitted in band 7 when operating in the FDD mode and in bands 40 or41 when operating in the TDD mode.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 8A, and 8B, a timing diagram illustratingprotection of signals transmitted using a first wireless communicationstandard is shown. Although the coexistence technique associated withFIG. 7 is primarily described for the MWS and WLAN wirelesscommunication standards, the coexistence technique may be used for otherwireless communication standards. In FIG. 8A, three rows of periods areshown. In the first row, actual MWS UL and DL periods and a gap period(GP) are shown. In the second row, MWS UL and DL periods indicated tothe second transceiver module 32 are shown. Although the firsttransceiver module 24 may operate based on a repeating pattern of UL andDL periods as shown in the first row, all of these periods may not beindicated to the second transceiver module 32. The first transceivermodule 24 may indicate simply the UL and DL periods shown in the secondrow to the second transceiver module 32. In the third row, a NoA periodis shown.

An AP or direct group owner (GO), such as the wireless network device10, may schedule the NoA period to begin when a MWS DL period isexpected to begin and/or when the first transceiver module 24 isexpected to receive a MWS signal from the switch module 22. The AP maydetermine when to schedule the NoA period based on a framesynchronization signal SYNC and/or a configuration signal CONF. Theframe synchronization signal SYNC and/or the configuration signal CONFmay indicate lengths of the MWS DL and UL periods, start times of the ULand DL periods, and/or other timing information indicating when the MWSDL and UL periods begin and end. Examples of the frame synchronizationsignal SYNC and the configuration signal CONF are shown in FIG. 15. Thesecond transceiver module 32 schedules the NoA period and may transmit aNoA signal to other stations based on lengths of the MWS DL and ULperiods.

Stations, including the wireless network device 10, that are connectedto the AP and/or the second transceiver module 32 do not transmitsignals (e.g., WLAN or Wi-Fi signals) during the NoA period. If thefirst transceiver module 24 is in the sleep mode and the framesynchronization signal SYNC and the configuration signal CONF areprovided to the second transceiver module 32, then the secondtransceiver module 32 may schedule the NoA period. The NoA period may bescheduled to occur while the first transceiver module 24 is in theactive mode. NoA periods may be scheduled repeatedly and/or periodicallyand based on durations of MWS frames and/or periods. The NoA periods maybe used to prevent WLAN signal transmission while MWS signals areexpected to be received by the first transceiver module 24 and from theswitch module 22. This protects received MWS signals by preventingdesensitization of the MWS signals by transmission and/or reception ofWLAN or Wi-Fi signals. As an example, the MWS signals may be received inbands 40 and 41. The first transceiver module 24 may receive the MWSsignals while operating in the TDD mode. The NoA period in FIG. 8A maybe increased in length based on the TxON signal received from the firsttransceiver module 24.

In FIG. 8B, three rows of periods are shown. In the first row, actualMWS UL and DL periods and a gap period (GP) are shown. In the secondrow, MWS UL and DL periods indicated to the second transceiver module 32are shown. In the third row, a NoA period is shown.

An AP or direct group owner (GO), such as the wireless network device10, may schedule the NoA period to begin when a MWS DL period isexpected to end and the MWS UL period is expected to begin and/or whenthe first transceiver module 24 is expected to transmit a MWS signal tothe switch module 22. The AP may determine when to schedule the NoAperiod based on a frame synchronization signal SYNC and/or aconfiguration signal CONF. The frame synchronization signal SYNC and/orthe configuration signal CONF may indicate lengths of the MWS DL and ULperiods, start times of the UL and DL periods, and/or other timinginformation indicating when the MWS DL and UL periods begin and end.

Stations, including the wireless network device 10, that are connectedto the AP and/or the second transceiver module 32 do not transmitsignals (e.g., WLAN or Wi-Fi signals) during the NoA period. The NoAperiod may be used to prevent WLAN signal transmission while MWS signalsare expected to be transmitted by the first transceiver module 24 and tothe switch module 22. This protects WLAN or Wi-Fi signals from beingaffected by MWS transmitted signals. MWS signals received during the MWSDL period may not be affected by transmitted WLAN signals and/or Wi-Fisignals due to filters associated with the first transceiver module 24.The NoA period in FIG. 8B may be reduced in length based on the TxONsignal received from the first transceiver module 24.

In FIGS. 9A and 9B, timing diagrams illustrating use of an unused UL andDL periods of a first wireless communication standard for scheduledpower save triggered signals of another wireless communication standardare shown. The implementation of FIG. 9B may be used when WLAN or Wi-Fisignals transmitted by the second transceiver module 32 can be affectedby MWS signals transmitted by the first transceiver module 24. DL and ULperiods for MWS signals are shown. The first transceiver module 24 maygenerate a UL indication signal TxON, similar to the UL indicationsignal TxON of FIG. 7. The second transceiver module 32 may operate inthe sleep mode prior to and subsequent to an unused UL and/or DL periodof an MWS UL and/or DL period. The frame synchronization signal SYNC andconfiguration signal CONF may be transmitted as described above toindicate start, duration and end times of the MWS DL and UL periods. Inaddition, a frame offset signal OFFSET may also be transmitted from thefirst transceiver module 24 to the second transceiver module 32 toindicate an offset or delay in a period, such as a delay in a DL, UL,and/or used UL period. Based on the information received in the framesynchronization signal SYNC, the configuration signal CONF, and/or theframe offset signal OFFSET, the second transceiver module 32 determinesa duration of the MWS UL and DL periods that are unused.

Although the following tasks are described with respect to the wirelessnetwork device 10 performing as a non-AP station, the wireless networkdevice 10 when operating in the AP mode may instead perform the tasksassociated with the mentioned AP. At a beginning of the unused ULperiod, a beginning of a MWS DL period, and/or during the MWS DL period,the second transceiver module 32 may generate a power save (PS) pollsignal and/or user data signal. The PS poll signal may request that thewireless network device 10 return to the PM. The PS poll signal and/orthe user data signal may be transmitted from the second transceivermodule 32 to the AP via the switch module 22. The AP may then respondwith an ACK signal indicating that the PS poll signal and/or the userdata signal was received. The AP may then transmit a user data signal tothe second transceiver module 32, which may be received via the switchmodule 22. The second transceiver module 32 may then respond with asecond ACK signal and then return to the sleep mode.

The first transceiver module 24, the coexistence arbitration module 36,and/or the frame module 328 of FIG. 15 may indicate to the secondtransceiver module 32 lengths of the MWS DL periods and MWS UL periods.The second transceiver module 32 may transmit the PS poll signal and thesecond ACK signal based on lengths of a MWS DL period and a MWS ULperiod. The AP may have a predetermined window in which to transmit theuser data.

The first transceiver module 24 may operate in the FDD mode or the TDDmode. The MWS signal transmitted during the UL used period may betransmitted in band 7 when operating in the FDD mode and in bands 40 or41 when operating in the TDD mode

In FIG. 9A, although the PS poll and ACK signals transmitted by thesecond transceiver module are shown as being transmitted during theunused UL period, the PS poll and ACK signals may be transmitted duringthe used UL period shown or other used UL period. The PS poll and ACKsignals transmitted by the second transceiver module 32 are transmittedduring a used UL period subsequent to receiving a packet from the APduring an unused UL period.

In FIG. 9B, although the second transceiver module 32 is shown as beingin the sleep mode during MWS UL periods, the second transceiver module32 may remain active and transmit PS poll and ACK signals during a MWSUL period following a MWS DL period in which an ACK signal and data werereceived from an AP.

In FIGS. 10A and 10B, timing diagrams illustrating use of UL and DLperiods of a first wireless communication standard for unscheduled powersave triggered signals of another wireless communication standard areshown. The implementation of FIG. 10B may be used when WLAN or Wi-Fisignals transmitted by the second transceiver module 32 can be affectedby MWS signals transmitted by the first transceiver module 24. DL and ULperiods for MWS signals are shown. The first transceiver module 24 maygenerate a UL indication signal TxON, similar to the UL indicationsignal TxON of FIG. 7. The second transceiver module 32 may operate inthe sleep mode prior to and subsequent to (i) an unused UL period of anMWS UL period, and/or (ii) a MWS DL period.

The frame synchronization signal SYNC and configuration signal CONF maybe transmitted as described above to indicate start, duration and endtimes of the MWS DL and UL periods. In addition, a frame offset signalOFFSET may also be transmitted from the first transceiver module 24 tothe second transceiver module 32 to indicate an offset or delay in aperiod, such as a delay in a DL, UL, and/or used DL period. Based on theinformation received in the frame synchronization signal SYNC, theconfiguration signal CONF, and/or the frame offset signal OFFSET, thesecond transceiver module 32 determines a duration of the MWS UL periodthat is unused and/or MWS DL period.

Although the following tasks are described with respect to the wirelessnetwork device 10 performing as a non-AP station, the wireless networkdevice 10 when operating in the AP mode may instead perform the tasksassociated with the AP. At a beginning of the unused UL period and/or aMWS DL period, the second transceiver module 32 may generate anunscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD) trigger frame to theAP. The AP may then respond with an ACK signal indicating that theU-APSD trigger frame was received. The AP may then transmit a user datasignal and/or user frames to the second transceiver module 32, which maybe received via the switch module 22. The user data may be transmittedduring a first end of service period (EOSP). Multiple EOSPs are shownwith corresponding ACK signals. The duration of the EOSPs may beindicated by the U-APSD.

The second transceiver module 32 returns to the sleep mode subsequent tothe last ACK signal, the unused UL period, and/or corresponding MWS DLperiod. The first transceiver module 24 may indicate to the secondtransceiver module 32 lengths of the MWS DL periods and MWS UL periods.The second transceiver module 32 may transmit the PS poll signal and thesecond ACK signal based on lengths of a MWS DL period and a MWS ULperiod. The AP may have a predetermined window in which to transmit theuser data.

The first transceiver module 24 may operate in the FDD mode or the TDDmode during the UL used period. The MWS signal transmitted during the ULused period may be transmitted in band 7 when operating in the FDD modeand in bands 40 or 41 when operating in the TDD mode.

In FIG. 10A, although the trigger and ACK signals transmitted by thesecond transceiver module 32 are shown as being transmitted during theunused UL period, the trigger and ACK signals may be transmitted duringthe used UL period shown or other used UL period. The trigger and ACKsignals transmitted by the second transceiver module 32 are transmittedduring a used UL period subsequent to receiving a packet from the APduring an unused UL period.

In FIG. 10B, although the second transceiver module 32 is shown as beingin the sleep mode during MWS UL periods, the second transceiver module32 may remain active and transmit trigger and ACK signals during a MWSUL period following a MWS DL period in which an ACK signal and data werereceived from an AP.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 11, a method of operating the coexistencesystem 17 is shown in accordance with the implementations of FIGS. 7-10.The method may begin at 150.

At 152, a UL indication signal TxON is transmitted from the firsttransceiver module 24 to the second transceiver module (e.g., one of thetransceiver modules 32, 34). At 154, the second transceiver module istransitioned to the sleep mode in response to the UL indication signalTxON when the second transceiver module 32 is in a station. This isindicated to an AP, as described above. At 156, the AP transmits a NoAsignal indicating a NoA period in response to the UL indication signalTxON when the second transceiver module 32 is in the AP. At 158, UL datais transmitted via the first transceiver module 24 during a used portionof an UL period.

The following tasks 160-168 are performed during an unused period of theUL period of the first transceiver module 24. At 160, the secondtransceiver module transmits a PS poll signal or a U-ASPD signal to theAP. At 162, the second transceiver module receives an ACK signal fromthe AP, which is sent in response to the PS poll signal or the U-APSDsignal.

At 164, the second transceiver module may transmit a data signal to thesecond transceiver module. At 166, the second transceiver module maysend an ACK signal to the AP in response to receiving the data signal.At 168, the second transceiver module may determine whether anotherservice period (SP) is to be implemented. If yes, task 164 may beperformed, otherwise task 170 may be performed. At 170, the secondtransceiver module returns to the sleep mode. This may occur when thereis no further SPs to implement, during (i) the unused period and/or (ii)prior to or at an end of the UL period. The method may end at 172.

Referring now to FIGS. 12-14, a coexistence system 200, a prioritytable, and a corresponding method of operating the coexistence system200 are shown. The method may be used to operate the coexistence system17 of FIG. 1 and may begin at 250. The coexistence system 200 includesthe host module 202, a communication module 204 (e.g., the firstcommunication module 18 of FIG. 1) with a first transceiver module 206,a second transceiver module 208, a third transceiver module 210, acoexistence interface 212, a coexistence arbitration module 216 and aswitch module 218. Data signals are transmitted between (i) the hostmodule 202, and (ii) the transceiver modules 206, 208, 210. The firsttransceiver module 206 may transmit and/or receive signals satisfying atleast one of the MWS wireless communication standards. The secondtransceiver module 208 may transmit and receive signals conforming to,for example, WLAN and/or Wi-Fi standards. The third transceiver module210 may transmit and receive signals conforming to, for example, BTstandards.

The transceiver modules 208, 210 may generate configuration signalsCONF₂₁, CONF₃₁, CONF₂₂, CONF₃₂. The configuration signals CONF₂₁,CONF₃₁, CONF₂₂, CONF₃₂ may be generated respectively by the transceivermodules 208, 210. The configuration signals CONF₂₁, CONF₃₁, CONF₂₂,CONF₃₂ each include a value. The transceiver modules 208, 210 maygenerate these values based on the status information via, for example,the status signal STAT2 received from the first transceiver module 206,as shown at 252.

The transceiver modules 208, 210 send transmit request signals TX2-3,receive request signals RX2-3, second and third priority signalsPRIO2-3, and overlap signals OVLP2-3 to the coexistence arbitrationmodule 216, as shown at 254. The transmit request signals TX2-3 requesttransmission of signals by the corresponding one of the transceivermodules 208, 210. The receive request signals RX2-3 request reception ofsignals from the switch module 218 to the corresponding one of thetransceiver modules 208, 210. The priority signals PRIO2-3 indicate apriority level for the corresponding transmit and receive signals and/ortask being performed. Example priority levels are provided in FIG. 13.The priority table of FIG. 13 may be stored in the coexistencearbitration module 216.

The overlap signals OVLP2-3 are a ‘1’ when there is potentialdesensitization of a first signal or a second signal due to transmissionor reception of (i) the first signal according to a wirelesscommunication standard of a corresponding one of the transceiver modules208, 210, and (ii) a second signal via the first transceiver module 206.Desensitization may occur, for example, when a frequency of the firstsignal is within a predetermined range of a frequency of the secondsignal. The transceiver modules 206, 208, 210 may also transmit and/orreceive data signals DATA1-3, such as user data signals, to and from theswitch module 218. The overlap signals OVLP2-3 may be a ‘0’ when thereis no potential desensitization of the first and second signals, such aswhen the frequency of the first signal is outside of the predeterminedrange.

The first transceiver module 206 may transmit a status signal to thetransceiver modules 208, 210. The status signal may be transmitteddirectly from the first transceiver module 206 to the transceivermodules 208, 210 or may be sent to the transceiver modules 208, 210 viathe host module 202, as shown. A first status signal STAT1 and a secondstatus signal STAT2 are shown. The status signals STAT1, STAT2 mayindicate a status of the first transceiver module 206 including whetherthe first transceiver module 206 is: establishing a connection with astation; connected to a station; performing a scan; and/or performingand/or involved in a handover. The status signals STAT1, STAT2 may alsoinclude a priority levels and/or frequencies of signals about to bereceived and/or transmitted via the first transceiver module 206. Theabove-stated overlap signals OVR2-3 may be generated based on, forexample, the second status signal STAT2.

Tasks 256-276 may be performed subsequent to tasks 252-254. Tasks256-266 may be performed in parallel with tasks 268-276. In oneimplementation, tasks 256-266 are performed while tasks 268-276 are notperformed. In another implementation, tasks 268-276 are performed whiletasks 256-266 are not performed.

The first transceiver module 206 sends a transmit request signal TX1 anda receive request signal RX1 to the coexistence interface, as shown at256. The transmit request signal TX1 requests transmission of signals bythe transceiver module 206. The receive request signal RX1 requestsreception of signals from the switch module 218 to the transceivermodule 206.

The TX/RX register module 230 receives the transmit request signals andthe receive request signals from the first transceiver module 206 (shownat 258). The TX/RX register module 230 may also receive one or more ofthe configuration signals CONF₂₁, CONF₃₁ (shown at 260). The TX/RXregister module 230 determines a priority level for the transmit requestsignal TX1 and receive request signal RX1 based on the configurationsignals CONF₂₁, CONF₃₁.

The coexistence interface 212 includes a transmit and receive (TX/RX)register module 230, a scan enable module 232, and a scan registermodule 234. The TX/RX register module 230: generates a priority signalPRIOTXRX (shown at 262) and forwards TX/RX signals TX1, RX1 to thecoexistence arbitration module 216 (shown at 264). Tasks 262, 264 may beperformed during the same period. Task 262 may be performed while task264 is performed. The priority signal PRIOTXRX indicates a prioritylevel for the corresponding transmit and receive signals and/or taskbeing performed. The priority signal PRIOTXRX may be generated based onconfiguration information in the TX/RX register module 230. Theconfiguration information may be based on the configuration signalsCONF₂₁, CONF₃₁. The configuration information may be based on countervalues, states of the second and third transceiver modules 208, 210,and/or states of and/or configuration requests from the firsttransceiver module 206. Configuration information provided from thefirst transceiver module 206 to the transceiver modules 208, 210 forgeneration of the priority signal PRIOTXRX can be provided eitherthrough the host module 202 or via the coexistence interface 212.

Example priority levels are provided in FIG. 13. The priority table ofFIG. 13 may be stored in the coexistence arbitration module 216. Thecoexistence interface 212 transmits the signals TX1, RX1, PRIOTXRX tothe coexistence arbitration module 216.

At 266, the coexistence arbitration module 216 generates a switchcontrol signal SW to control states of switches 238 in the switch module218 based on the request signals TX1-3, RX1-3, the priority signalsPRIO2-3, PRIOTXRX, the overlap signals OVR2-3, the timing of thesesignals, and/or the arbitration rules. The coexistence arbitrationmodule 216 arbitrates the signals TX1-3, RX1-3 based on the signalsPRIOTXRX, OVR2-3, PRIO2-3 and generates the switch control signalaccordingly. The method may end at 274. This allocates transmit andreceive time slots for each of the transceiver modules 206, 208, 210relative to each of multiple antennas 240 connected to the switch module218. The arbitration rules may include priority rules and antennaselection rules. The priority rules may be based on a priority table,such as that provided in FIG. 13. Examples of antenna selection rulesare described above. The coexistence arbitration module 216 generatesthe switch control signal SW as a result of the priority basedarbitration. The switch module 218 adjusts the states of switches 238based on the switch control signal SW.

The first transceiver module 206 sends a scan request signal SCAN to thecoexistence interface, as shown at 268. The scan request signal SCAN mayindicate that a scan of a particular frequency is to be performed and/orthat a probe request signal and/or a beacon signal is to be transmittedon the particular frequency. The scan request signal SCAN indicates thefrequency being used for transmitting scan related signals via theswitch module 218. Multiple frequencies and/or channels may be tested todetect a frequency and/or channel with the best performance. A scan mayinclude detecting the frequency and/or channel with, for example, thebest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). During the scan, a probe requestsignal or beacon signal may be transmitted to discover another station.

The scan enable module 232 receives the scan request signal SCAN fromthe first transceiver module 206, as shown at 270. The scan enablemodule 232 may alternatively be located in one of the transceivermodules 208, 210 or the transceiver modules 208, 210 may also include ascan enable module. The scan enable module 232 may generate an enablesignal SCANON indicating that a SCAN is to be performed for the firsttransceiver module 206 based on the scan signal SCAN, as shown at 272.

The scan register module 234 may receive the enable signal SCANON and/orthe configuration signals CONF₂₂, CONF₃₂. The scan register module 234generates a resulting scan signal SCANOUT and a priority scan signalPRIOSCAN based on the enable signal SCANON and/or the configurationsignals CONF₂₂, CONF₃₂, as shown at 274. The resulting scan signalSCANOUT indicates that a scan is to be performed. The priority scansignal PRIOSCAN indicates a priority level of the scan. The prioritysignal PRIOSCAN indicates a priority level for the corresponding scansignal and/or task being performed.

The priority signal PRIOSCAN may be generated based on configurationinformation in the scan register module 234. The configurationinformation may be based on the configuration signals CON F₂₂, CONF₃₂.The configuration information may be based on counter values, states ofthe second and third transceiver modules 208, 210, and/or states ofand/or configuration requests from the first transceiver module 206.Configuration information provided from the first transceiver module 206to the transceiver modules 208, 210 for generation of the prioritysignal PRIOSCAN can be provided either through the host module 202 orvia the coexistence interface 212.

The coexistence arbitration module 216 may automatically associate apriority level of a task based on scan information received from thecommunication module 204. This automatic association may be providedwithout transmission of the priority signal PRIOSCAN to the coexistencearbitration module 216.

Different types of scans may have different priority levels. The firsttransceiver module 206 may perform various scans such as anestablishment scan, a background scan, and/or other type of scan. Anestablishment scan may refer to when the first transceiver module 206has lost a connection and/or does not have a connection with a stationand is establishing a connection and is searching for a station. A scanmay be performed prior to performing a handover of a wireless networkdevice between, for example, two APs. The wireless network device mayinclude the coexistence system 200. The scan may be performed todetermine a target AP and time to perform the handover. The scan mayinclude monitoring signals from multiple stations and/or on multiplechannels to determine a best channel and/or station for communication.The scan may include the wireless network device transmitting a proberequest signal and/or a beacon signal to discover stations and/or APs. Abackground scan may refer to when a connection has been established andthe first transceiver module 206 is searching for a frequency and/orchannel for best performance with minimal desensitization. The wirelessnetwork device and/or the first transceiver module 206 may be in anactive low power mode when performing the background scan.

The first transceiver module 206 can adjust priority levels of MWStraffic based on state of the first transceiver module 206 and signaltypes being transmitted and/or received via the first transceiver module206. The state of the first transceiver module 206 may indicate whetherthe first transceiver module 206 is establishing a connection, has aconnection, is involved in a handover, is performing a scan, etc.Example signal types are shown in FIG. 13. The term “traffic” refers totransmitted or received signals including data and scan signals. Thepriority levels can be adjusted independently for UL traffic, DLtraffic, and scan traffic. In the above provided examples, two prioritysignals PRIOTXRX, PRIOSCAN are provided from the coexistence interface212 to the coexistence arbitration module 216 to provide independentpriority adjustment of transmit/receive and scan operations. This alsoallows differentiating priorities based on MWS UL periods and MWS DLperiods, as the priorities can be changed for each UL and/or DL period.

The first transceiver module 206 can adjust priority levels of the MWStraffic via the status signals STAT1, STAT2. This allows the firsttransceiver module 206 to perform priority escalations and/orde-escalations. A priority escalation refers to when the firsttransceiver module 206 raises the priority level of a signal to a higherlevel. For example, when a connection is lost or when a handover is tobe performed, signals transmitted and/or received via the firsttransceiver module 206 may be provided with a high priority level. Apriority de-escalation refers to when the priority level of a signal islowered. As an example, a priority level of a signal of the secondtransceiver module 208 may be lowered when a connection for the firsttransceiver module 206 is lost.

At 276, the coexistence arbitration module 216 generates a switchcontrol signal SW to control states of switches 238 in the switch module218 based on the request signals TX2-3, SCANOUT, the priority signalPRIO2-3, PRIOSCAN the timing of these signals, and/or the arbitrationrules. The coexistence arbitration module 216 arbitrates the signalsTX2-3, SCANOUT based on the signals PRIOSCAN, PRIO2-3 and generates theswitch control signal accordingly. The method may end at 274. Thisallocates transmit and receive time slots for each of the transceivermodules 206, 208, 210 relative to each of multiple antennas 240connected to the switch module 218. The arbitration rules may includepriority rules and antenna selection rules. The priority rules may bebased on a priority table, such as that provided in FIG. 13. Examples ofantenna selection rules are described above. The coexistence arbitrationmodule 216 generates the switch control signal SW as a result of thepriority based arbitration. The switch module 218 adjusts the states ofswitches 238 based on the switch control signal SW.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, a priority table for signals of multiplewireless communication standards is shown. The priority table includespriority levels and signal types for each of the transceiver modules206, 208, 210. The first column of the priority table indicates thepriority level. The highest priority signals are at the top or in thesecond row of the priority table. As an example, the highest prioritysignals may be connection establishment signals for the firsttransceiver module 206. The lowest priority signals are at the bottom orin the last row of the priority table. As an example, the lowestpriority signals may be user data or broadcast signals for the thirdtransceiver module 210.

Although the first column of the priority table includes 4 majorpriority levels (high, medium high, medium, and low), each majorpriority level may have multiple minor priority levels. As an example,for the high priority level three rows (second, third and fourth rows)are shown. The second row of the table being of higher priority than thethird and fourth rows of the table.

In the priority table, the signals and/or data are transmitted between awireless network device and a station and/or AP to establish aconnection. The wireless network device may be the wireless networkdevice in FIG. 1. The wireless network device may include thecoexistence system 200 of FIG. 12. For example, the connectionestablishment signals are signals transmitted between a wireless networkdevice and a station and/or AP to establish a connection between thesedevices. In the priority table, the RTS signals and the CTS signals arerespectively return-to-send signals and the clear-to-send signals. TheQOS data is quality of service data. Role switch signals refer tosignals associated with, for example, changing a master/slaverelationship between two stations. A first station may switch from beinga slave device to being a master device and a second station may switchfrom being a master device to being a slave device.

The first transceiver module 206 may have a persistent usage pattern.The persistent usage pattern refers to a repeating pattern of UL and DLperiods, where the UL periods have the same length and/or where the DLperiods have the same length. The persistent usage pattern may also oralternatively refer to repeating UL or DL usage periods. A UL usageperiod refers to a portion of an allocated UL period that is used fortransmitting MWS signals. A DL usage period refers to a portion of anallocated DL period that is used for receiving MWS signals. The firsttransceiver module 206 may indicate the persistent usage pattern to theone or more of the transceiver modules 208, 210, the coexistenceinterface 212, and/or the coexistence arbitration module 216. This maybe done via, for example, the status signals STAT1, STAT2, and/or othersignals. The status signals STAT1 and STAT2 may be transmitted via ahost controller interface (HCI) and/or a transparent data interfacebetween the host module 202 and the transceiver modules 208, 210 and/orbetween first transceiver module 206 and the transceiver modules 208,210. Examples of these interfaces are shown in FIG. 15. The transceivermodules 208, 210, the coexistence interface 212, and/or the coexistencearbitration module 216 may then schedule transmit and/or receive timesbased on the persistent usage pattern and associated unused MWS periods(may be referred to as unused subframes).

Scheduling transmit and/or receive times by the transceiver modules 208,210 based on the persistent usage pattern and associated unused MWSperiods may include: scheduling transmit and/or receive signals andrequests; scheduling scan requests and/or signals; and/or settingpriority levels of transmit and/or receive signals. The persistent usagepattern may be indicated to the transceiver modules 208, 210, forexample, in voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) LTE implementations toreduce control channel overhead of packets by allowing control channelinformation to be transmitted during unused UL or DL periods.

The transceiver modules 208, 210 request that the first transceivermodule 206 allocate certain amounts of time for the transceiver modules208, 210 to transmit and/or receive data during repeating UL and/or DLperiods of the first transceiver module 206. The amount of time that ismade available for one of the transceiver modules 208, 210 and for eachof repeating UL/DL cycles of the first transceiver module 206 may bereferred to as a persistent puncture pattern. The transceiver modules208, 210 may provide respective maps of recurrent puncture slots to thefirst transceiver module 206 indicating the amount of time per slotrequested by the transceiver modules 208, 210. Each slot may be in a ULperiod of the first transceiver module 206. The first transceiver module206 may then allocate unused UL and/or DL periods to provide thepersistent puncture pattern based on the maps indicated by thetransceiver modules 208, 210. The amount of time requested by each ofthe transceiver modules 208, 210 may be a fixed amount. The firsttransceiver module 206 may adapt scheduling of MWS transmit and receivesignals based on the maps and/or determined persistent puncturepatterns.

Micro-second (μs) granularity in allocated times can be provided fordata transmission by having the transceiver modules 208, 210 requestthat the first transceiver module 206 allocate certain amounts of timefor the transceiver modules 208, 210 during UL and/or DL periods of thefirst transceiver module 206. The provided time is for the transceivermodules 208, 210 to transmit and/or receive data during the UL and/or DLperiods of the first transceiver module 206. The transceiver modules208, 210 may provide the certain amount of time in a predeterminednumber of us and the first transceiver module 206 may then convert theamounts of time into a number of unused periods (or number ofsubframes). Each unused period is a predetermined number of us long andis in a UL period of the first transceiver module 206.

Referring now to FIGS. 15 and 16, another coexistence system 300 withdedicated antennas and corresponding operating method are shown. Themethod may begin at 350. The coexistence system 300 includes a hostmodule 302, a first transceiver module 304, an interface module 306, afirst switch module 308, and a second switch module 310. The host module302 may be connected to (i) the first transceiver module 304 via a firstcoexistence interface 312, and (ii) the interface module 306 via asecond coexistence interface 314. The interfaces 312, 314 may be hostcontroller interfaces (HCI) or transparent data interfaces. The datasignals are transmitted between (i) the host module 302, and (ii) thefirst transceiver module 304 and the interface module 306.

The first transceiver module 304 includes the first coexistenceinterface 312. The first coexistence interface 312 is in communicationwith the interface module 306 via a bus 320. A UL indication signal TxONor a DL indication signal RxON may be transmitted from the firstcoexistence interface 312 to a second coexistence interface 314 of theinterface module 306 to indicate that the first transceiver module 304is to transmit or receive a signal in a predetermined period of time, asshown at 352. The first transceiver module 304 may comply with MWSstandards. Data is transmitted between the first transceiver module 304and the first switch module 308. The first switch module 308 transmitsand receives data via first antennas 322 based on a first switch controlsignal SW1 received from the first transceiver module 304.

The interface module 306 includes the second coexistence interface 314,a communication module 324 (e.g., the second communication module 20 ofFIG. 1), and a coexistence arbitration module 326. The communicationmodule 324 includes a frame module 328, a second transceiver module 330and a third transceiver module 332. The frame module 328 determinestiming of UL and DL MWS signals (referred to hereinafter as MWS signaltiming) based on a frame synchronization signal SYNC1 from the secondcoexistence interface 314, as shown at 354. The frame synchronizationsignal SYNC1 may include: MWS transmit times; MWS receive times; andstart, duration and end times of MWS DL periods, MWS UL periods, and MWSused UL periods, and/or other synchronization information. The framemodule 328 may then indicate the MWS signal timing to the transceivermodules 330, 332.

The first transceiver module 304 may provide status information to thehost module 302 via a first status signal STAT1. The host module 302 maythen provide the status information to the transceiver modules 330, 332.The status information may indicate an operating mode of the firsttransceiver module 304 and/or whether the first transceiver module 304:is establishing a connection; has a connection; is transmitting; isreceiving; is in a sleep mode; and/or is associated with a handoverbeing performed. The status information may include received signalstrength information (RSSI) for UL and DL, transmit power for UL and DL,or other configuration information. Although the status information isshown as being provided to the host module 302, the status informationmay be provided to the interface module 306 and/or one or more of thetransceiver modules 330, 332. The status signals STAT1, STAT2 may alsoor alternatively indicate a status of the first transceiver module 304including: MWS transmit frequencies: MWS receive frequencies; MWStransmit times; MWS receive times; and start, duration and end times ofMWS DL periods, MWS UL periods, and MWS used UL periods. Thetransmission of status information via the status signals STAT1, STAT2is shown at 356.

In one implementation the first transceiver module 304 does not providethe status information to the host module 302 and the host module doesnot provide the status information to the transceiver modules 330, 332.The first transceiver module 304 provides the status information and/ortransmit information to the coexistence arbitration module 326. Thecoexistence arbitration module then performs arbitration for thetransceiver modules 304, 330, 332. In another implementation, thetransceiver modules 330, 332 is only informed of the states of the firsttransceiver module 304 when the first transceiver module 304 isperforming a scan.

The second transceiver module 330 may comply with WLAN and/or Wi-Fistandards. The second transceiver module 330 transmits and receivessignals based on (i) the UL indication signal TxON, (ii) the DLindication signal RxON and the MWS signal timing, and/or (iii) thesecond synchronization signal SYNC2. The signals TxOn, RxON, SYNC2 maybe received from the second coexistence interface 314. The UL indicationsignal TxON and the DL indication signal RxON may be forwarded from thesecond coexistence interface 314 to the second transceiver module 330.The second transceiver module 330 schedules signal transmission andreception based on the signals received from the frame module 328 andthe second coexistence interface 314, as shown at 358. The secondtransceiver module 330 transmits data to and receives data from thesecond switch module 310.

The third transceiver module 332 may comply with BT standards. The thirdtransceiver module 332 transmits and receives signals based on (i) asecond frame synchronization signal SYNC2, (ii) the MWS signal timing,and/or (iii) the signals TxON, RxON. The signals TxOn, RxON, SYNC2 maybe received from the second coexistence interface 314. The second framesynchronization signal SYNC2 may be generated by the second coexistenceinterface 314 and transmitted to the third transceiver module 332. Thesecond synchronization signal SYNC2 may be the same as or includeinformation that is in the first synchronization signal SYNC1. The thirdtransceiver module 332 schedules signal transmission and reception basedon the signals received from the frame module 328 and the secondcoexistence interface 314, as shown at 360. The third transceiver module332 transmits data to and receives data from the second switch module310.

At 362, the coexistence arbitration module 326 arbitrates transmit andreceive signals of the transceiver modules 330, 332 based on (i)transmit and receive request signals from the transceiver modules 330,332, and (ii) real time signals REAL from the second coexistenceinterface 314. The real time signals may include the UL indicationsignal TxON and the DL indication signal RxON. The method may end at364. The coexistence arbitration module 326 generates a second switchcontrol signal SW2.

Although dedicated antennas 322 are shown for the first transceivermodule 304, the first switch module 308 and antennas 322 may not beincluded. The first transceiver module 304 may send transmit and receiverequests to the coexistence arbitration module 326 via the secondcoexistence interface 314 and transmit and receive data signals from thesecond switch module 310 and associated antennas 340. The coexistencearbitration module 326 may then perform arbitration of signals receivedfrom the transceiver modules 304, 330, 332. In another implementation,the coexistence arbitration module 326 generates the first switchcontrol signal SW1 instead of the first transceiver module 304.

Referring now to FIGS. 15, 17 and 18, a portion 400 of the coexistencesystem 300 of FIG. 15 illustrating potential desensitization detectionvia masks and a corresponding operating method are shown. The method maybegin at 450. The portion 400 includes the host module 302, the firsttransceiver module 304, the second coexistence interface 314, the switchmodules 308, 310, the third transceiver module 332, and the coexistencearbitration module 326. Data signals are transmitted between (i) thehost module 302, and (ii) the transceiver modules 304, 332. AlthoughFIG. 17 is shown and described with respect to the third transceivermodule 332, the same implementation of FIG. 17 may be applied to thesecond transceiver module 330.

The first transceiver module 304 transmits and receives data DATA1 viathe first switch module 308. The first transceiver module 304 sendsrequest signals MWSREQ to the second coexistence interface 314 whenrequesting to transmit and receive data, as shown at 452. The secondcoexistence interface 314 transmits a transmit request signal TX1 and areceive request signal RX1 to the coexistence arbitration module 326based on the request signals MWSREQ, as shown at 454. The secondcoexistence interface 314 may also transmit a frame synchronizationsignal SYNC (e.g., one of the synchronization signals SYNC1, SYNC2) tothe third transceiver module 332 based on the request signals MWSREQ, asshown at 456.

The third transceiver module 332 transmits and receives data DATA3 viathe second switch module 310. The third transceiver module 332 (or thesecond transceiver module 330) includes a transceiver control module 402and a transceiver output module 404. The transceiver control module 402generates mask configuration signals MASK1, MASK2 based on configurationinformation, as shown at 458. The configuration information may include:transmit power and/or receive power of signals of the first transceivermodule 304 and/or the second transceiver module 330; RSSI of the firsttransceiver module 304 and/or the second transceiver module 330; achannel of the first transceiver module 304; isolation values indicatingan amount of isolation between two or more of the antennas 322, 340;filter characteristic values of filters of the first transceiver module304 and/or the third transceiver module 332; and/or other configurationinformation.

Each of the mask configuration signals MASK1, MASK2 may be, for example,an 8-bit value and indicate a channel and include a direction bit. Thechannel may refer to a predetermined frequency that may causedesensitization of (i) a data signal transmitted from the secondtransceiver module 330 to the first switch module 308, or (ii) a datasignal received by the second transceiver module 330 from the firstswitch module 308. The direction bit indicates a range of frequenciesthat can cause desensitization of the data signals transmitted from orreceived by the second transceiver module 330. The direction bitindicates whether frequencies within a MWS band and greater than thepredetermined frequency or frequencies within a MWS band and less thanthe predetermined frequency can cause desensitization.

As a result, if the first transceiver module 304 transmits or receives asignal at the predetermined frequency or a frequency within the rangeindicated by the direction bit, desensitization may result with a signaltransmitted by or received from the second transceiver module 330. Forexample, the predetermined frequency may be a frequency in band 40. Ifthe first transceiver module 304 is transmitting or receiving a signalat a frequency that is in band 40 and is at or greater than thepredetermined frequency, then desensitization may result with a signalof the second transceiver module 330 transmitted or received at afrequency in the ISM band.

The transceiver output module 404 includes a schedule module 410, ahopping kernel module 412, a receiver mask module 414, and a transmittermask module 416. The schedule module 410 generates a receive requestsignal RX3 and a transmit request signal TX3 when the third transceivermodule 332 is to receive a data signal and/or transmit a data signal viathe second switch module 310, as shown at 460. The data signals mayinclude one or more frames of data. The hopping kernel module 412 maydetermine a channel for each of the data signals and/or for each of theframes of the data signals. The channel used to transmit and/or receiveeach of the frames of the data signals may be changed for each of theframes of the data signals by the hopping kernel module 412. The hoppingkernel module 412 may change the channel being used for each of theframes based on a frequency of an internal clock 418 and/or associatedclock signal. The hopping kernel module 412 may generate a receivechannel signal BTCHAN1 and a transmit channel signal BTCHAN2respectively indicating the frequencies used for receiving andtransmitting, which may be different, as shown at 462.

The channel signals BTCHAN1 and BTCHAN2 are provided to the receivermask module 414 and the transmitter mask module 416. The receiver maskmodule 414 forwards the receive request signal RX3 and generates anoverlap signal OVLP based on the first mask configuration signals MASK1and the receive channel signal BTCHAN1. The overlap signal OVLPindicates whether there is potential desensitization of (i) the signalto be received by the third transceiver module 332 via the second switchmodule 310, and (ii) a signal being transmitted from or received by thefirst transceiver module 304 via the first switch module 308. Thetransmitter mask module 416 forwards the transmit request signal TX3 andgenerates the overlap signal OVLP based on the second mask configurationsignals MASK2 and the transmit channel signal BTCHAN2. The overlapsignal OVLP generated by the transmitter mask module 416 may be (i)independent of the overlap signal generated by the receiver mask module414, or (ii) combined with the overlap signal OVLP generated by thereceiver mask module 414 to provide the overlap signal OVLP, as shown.The overlap signal OVLP generated by the transmitter mask module 416indicates whether there is potential desensitization of (i) the signalto be transmitted by the third transceiver module 332 via the secondswitch module 340, and (ii) a signal being transmitted from or receivedby the first transceiver module 304 via the first switch module 308.Forwarding and generation of the signals RX3, TX3, OVLP is shown at 464.

The coexistence arbitration module 326 generates the first and switchcontrol signals SW1, SW2 based on the request signals TX1, RX1, TX3, RX3and the overlap signal OVLP, as shown at 466. The method may end at 468.The coexistence arbitration module 326 performs arbitration on therequest signals TX1, RX1, TX3, RX3 based on the overlap signal OVLP andarbitration rules. Examples of arbitration rules are provided above.

As an example, arbitration tables, such as priority tables and antennaselection tables, may be used when the overlap signal OVLP is a one andmay not be used when the overlap signal is a zero. The overlap signalOVLP equal to one indicates potential desensitization and the overlapsignal OVLP equal to zero indicates no potential desensitization. If theoverlap signal OVLP is equal to one, the first transceiver module 304may receive signals while the third transceiver module 332 transmitssignals. Similarly, if the overlap signal is equal to one, the thirdtransceiver module 332 may receive signals while the first transceivermodule 304 transmits signals. The coexistence arbitration module 326 mayprevent the first transceiver module 304 from transmitting or receivingwhile and the third transceiver module 332 is transmitting or receiving.

The coexistence arbitration module 326 may permit the third transceivermodule 332 to receive regardless of whether coexistence arbitrationmodule 326 grants permission to the first transceiver module 304 totransmit and/or receive. This is referred to as opportunistic reception.In another implementation, the coexistence arbitration module 326permits the first transceiver module 304 to receive while the thirdtransceiver module 332 is receiving, but does not permit the firsttransceiver module 304 to transmit while the third transceiver module332 is transmitting.

Although dedicated antennas are shown for the first transceiver module304 and the third transceiver module 332, the first switch module 308and associated antennas 322 may not be included. The first transceivermodule 304 may send transmit and receive requests to the coexistencearbitration module 326 via the second coexistence interface 314 andtransmit and receive data signals from the second switch module 310.

Referring now to FIGS. 15, 19 and 20, a portion 500 of the coexistencesystem 300 of FIG. 15 illustrating scan based arbitration for WLAN and acorresponding operating method are shown. Although this method isdescribed for performance of a scan, the method may be used forcoexistence arbitration when transceivers are changing frequenciesdynamically. The method may begin at 550. The portion 500 includes thetransceiver modules 304, 330, the second coexistence interface 314, andthe coexistence arbitration module 326. Although FIG. 15 is shown anddescribed with respect to the second transceiver module 330, the sameimplementation of FIG. 15 may be applied to the third transceiver module332.

The second transceiver module 330 (or third transceiver module 332)includes a transceiver control module 504 and a transceiver outputmodule 506. As shown at 552, the transceiver control module 504generates a configuration signal CONF, which may include configurationinformation, such as: transmit power and/or receive power of signals ofthe first transceiver module 304 and/or the second transceiver module330; RSSI of the first transceiver module 304 and/or the secondtransceiver module 330; a channel of the second transceiver module 330;isolation values indicating an amount of isolation between two or moreof the antennas 322, 340 antennas; filter characteristics of filters ofthe first transceiver module 304 and/or the second transceiver module330; and/or other configuration information.

The first transceiver module 304 generates a frequency signal SCANFREQindicating a frequency on which the first transceiver module 304 is toperform a scan, as shown at 554. The scan may include searchingfrequencies for a best channel for MWS based communication. Thefrequency signal SCANFREQ may be a value that identifies a bit orstorage location in a register 502 of second coexistence interface 314.Each bit in the register 502 may be a zero or a one. The frequencysignal SCANFREQ may refer to one of the bits in the register 502. If theidentified bit is a zero, then there is not potential desensitization ofsignals of the first transceiver module 304 and the second transceivermodule 330. If the identified bit is a one, then there is potentialdesensitization between signals of the first transceiver module 304 andthe second transceiver module 330.

The second transceiver module 330 generates transmit request signal TX2,as shown at 558. The second coexistence interface 314 includes a delaymodule 508 and a scan frequency mask module 510. The delay module 508generates an enable signal SCANON based on the frequency signal SCANFREQand a predetermined amount of time after receiving the frequency signalSCANFREQ, as shown at 560. The predetermined amount of time may beprovided by the first transceiver module 304. This predetermined amountof time may be transmitted directly from the first transceiver module304 to the second coexistence interface 314 or indirectly via the hostmodule 302. The enable signal SCANON indicates whether a scan is to beperformed and/or whether a scan is being performed. The enable signalSCANON may also include the information in the frequency signalSCANFREQ. The enable signal SCANON is provided to the scan frequencymask module 510 and the coexistence arbitration module 326.

The scan frequency mask module 510 may fill and/or adjust bit values inthe register 502 based on the configuration signal CONF. The scanfrequency mask module 510 determines whether frequencies used by thefirst transceiver module 304 interfere with frequencies used by thesecond transceiver module 330 and generates an overlap signal OVLP, asshown at 562. The overlap signal OVLP is generated based on the enablesignal SCANON, the configuration signal CONF, and contents of theregister 502. The overlap signal OVLP indicates whether there ispotential desensitization of signals of the first transceiver module 304and the second transceiver module 330.

The coexistence arbitration module 326 arbitrates the signal TX1, SCANONbased on the overlap signal OVLP, as shown at 564. The method may end at566. If the overlap signal OVLP indicates that there is potentialdesensitization of frequencies and/or signals of the transceiver modules304, 330, then the coexistence arbitration module 326 uses arbitrationrules (as described above) to grant access to selected antennas. Thearbitration rules may be used when the overlap signal OVLP is a one, ascan is active (i.e. to be performed or is being performed), and thesecond transceiver module 330 is requesting to transmit. If theimplementation of FIG. 15 is performed for the third transceiver module332, the coexistence arbitration module 326 may determine whether thefrequencies of the first transceiver module 304 used for scanninginterfere with BT channels used by the third transceiver module 332.

Referring now to FIGS. 15, 21 and 22, a portion 600 of the coexistencesystem 300 of FIG. 15 illustrating scan based arbitration for BT and acorresponding operating method are shown. Although this method isdescribed for performance of a scan, the method may be used forcoexistence arbitration when transceivers are changing frequenciesdynamically. The method may begin at 650. The implementation of FIGS. 21and 22 is more efficient than the implementation of FIGS. 19 and 20 fortransmission associated with the third transceiver module 332, as thisimplementation more effectively takes into account hopping channels(i.e. changing frequencies) of the third transceiver module 332. Theportion 600 of the coexistence system 300 includes the first transceivermodule 304, the third transceiver module 332, the second coexistenceinterface 314, and the coexistence arbitration module 326.

The third transceiver module 332 includes a transceiver control module602 and a transceiver output module 604. The transceiver output module604 includes a schedule module 606, a hopping kernel module 608 and amask module 610. The second coexistence interface 614 includes a delaymodule 620 and a channel module 622. The channel module 622 may be inthe transceiver output module 604 instead of being in the secondcoexistence interface 314.

The transceiver control module 602 generates the configuration signalCONF, as described with respect to FIG. 19, as shown at 652. The channelmodule 622 may configure a look-up table 624 based on the configurationsignal CONF. The first transceiver module 304 generates the frequencysignal SCANFREQ indicating a frequency on which the first transceivermodule 304 is to perform a scan, as shown at 654.

The delay module 620 receives the frequency signal SCANFREQ and forwardsthe frequency signal SCANFREQ to the channel module 622 after apredetermined amount of time, as shown at 656. The predetermined amountof time may be determined by the first transceiver module 304 andprovided to the second coexistence interface 314, as described above.

The delay module 620 may generate an enable signal SCANON based on thefrequency signal SCANFREQ and may include the information in thefrequency signal SCANFREQ, as shown at 658. The enable signal SCANONindicates whether a scan is to be performed and/or whether a scan isbeing performed. The enable signal SCANON is provided to the coexistencearbitration module 326.

The channel module 622 generates a second channel signal MWSCHAN, asshown at 660. The channel module 622 determines channels of the thirdtransceiver module 332 that may be affected by transmitted and/orreceived signals of the first transceiver module 304 based on theconfiguration signal CONF and the frequency signal SCANFREQ. The channelmodule 622 generates the second channel signal MWSCHAN, which indicatesthe channels of the third transceiver module 332 may experiencedesensitization from signals of the first transceiver module 304. Thelook-up table 624 may be used to determine the affected channels. Thechannel module 622 may look up the value of the second channel signalMWSCHAN based on a value of the frequency signal SCANFREQ. The secondchannel signal MWSCHAN may indicate the affected channels and/or providea channel and a direction bit as described above for the second masksignal MASK2. The table 624 can be either in the second coexistenceinterface 314 or in the third transceiver module 332.

The mask module 610 may include, for example, a register 612 that storesbit values based on the second channel signal MWSCHAN. The mask module610 may compare the first channel signal BTCHAN with bits in theregister 612 that are associated with the second channel signal MWSCHAN.The second channel signal MWSCHAN may refer to one or more bits (e.g.,3-bits) in the register 612. The register 612 may have any number ofbits. If the one or more bits identified by the second channel signalMWSCHAN refer to a channel that may interfere with the channel indicatedby the first channel signal BTCHAN, then the overlap signal OVLP isgenerated to have a one. If the one or more bits identified by thesecond channel signal MWSCHAN do not refer to a channel that mayinterfere with the channel indicated by the first channel signal BTCHAN,then the overlap signal OVLP is generated to have a zero. Channelsand/or frequencies of the first transceiver module 304 and the thirdtransceiver module 332 may be grouped into zones; each of the zoneshaving multiple frequencies. The first channel signal BTCHAN, the secondchannel signal MWSCHAN, and/or the bits of the register 612 identifiedby the second channel signal MWSCHAN may refer to one or more of thesezones.

The schedule module 606 generates the transmit request signal TX3, asshown at 662. The hopping kernel module 608 generates a first channelsignal BTCHAN, as shown at 664. The mask module 610 forwards thetransmit request signal TX3 to the coexistence arbitration module 326and generates an overlap signal OVLP based on the transmit requestsignal TX3, the first channel signal BTCHAN, and a second channel signalMWSCHAN, as shown at 666.

The coexistence arbitration module 326 arbitrates the signals TX3,SCANON based on the overlap signal OVLP, as shown at 668. Task 652 maybe performed after task 668. Arbitration rules may be used when theoverlap signal is a one and/or indicates that there is potentialdesensitization of signals of the first transceiver module 304 and thesignals of the third transceiver module 332.

While the above-disclosed coexistence systems may be operated usingnumerous methods, example methods are illustrated in FIGS. 11, 14, 16,18, 20 and 22. Although the tasks of these methods are primarilydescribed with respect to certain example implementations, the tasks maybe easily modified to apply to other implementations of the presentdisclosure. The tasks of each of the methods may be iterativelyperformed. Also, the tasks are meant to be illustrative examples; thetasks may be performed sequentially, synchronously, simultaneously,continuously, during overlapping time periods or in a different orderdepending upon the application. Also, any of the tasks may not beperformed or skipped depending on the implementation and/or sequence ofevents.

In FIG. 23, a timing diagram illustrating a discontinuous or datareceive (DRX) cycle is shown. A first transceiver module (e.g., one ofthe first transceiver modules 24, 206, 304 of FIGS. 1, 12, 13) mayoperate in a MWS DRX mode. The MWS DRX mode includes transitioningbetween ON and OFF periods of the DRX cycle. The first transceivermodule may receive during the ON period and may and may be OFF duringthe OFF period.

Second and third transceiver modules (e.g., the second and thirdtransceiver modules 32, 34, 208, 210, 330, 332 of FIGS. 1, 12 and 15)can schedule activities (e.g., transmit or receive signals) during theOFF period. A coexistence interface (e.g., the coexistence interface 314of FIG. 15) may indicate timing of the ON and OFF periods to the secondand third transceiver modules.

The second transceiver module may schedule, for example, transmissionand/or reception of WLAN or WiFi signals during the OFF period. At thebeginning of the OFF period a station may send (i) a PS-Poll with orwithout data to an AP, or (ii) a U-APSD trigger frame to the AP. Thestation can transition to a sleep (or power save) mode at an end of theOFF period. The station may indicate to the AP that the station is totransition to a power save mode at an end of the OFF period. The AP maytransmit a NoA signal to stations in a network of the AP at the end ofthe OFF period.

The third transceiver module may schedule, for example, Bluetoothtraffic during the OFF period for paging, inquiry, page scanning, andinquiry scan operations. The third transceiver module may alternativelyor in addition schedule transmission and/or reception of asynchronousconnection-oriented logical (ACL) transport data and/or enhancedsynchronous connection-oriented (eSCO) data during the OFF period. ACLtransport data may refer to data packets transmitted on an ACL link. TheACL link may be used in a polling time division multiplexing access(TDMA) technique to arbitrate between devices access to the ACL link.ACL transport data may be. The enhanced synchronous connection-oriented(eSCO) data may refer to voice data that is transmitted on acorresponding link. An SCO link is a set of reserved timeslots on anexisting ACL link. Each device transmits encoded voice data in thereserved timeslot.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in noway intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Thebroad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety offorms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples,the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since othermodifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, thespecification, and the following claims. For purposes of clarity, thesame reference numbers will be used in the drawings to identify similarelements. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C shouldbe construed to mean a logical (A or B or C), using a non-exclusivelogical OR. It should be understood that one or more steps within amethod may be executed in different order (or concurrently) withoutaltering the principles of the present disclosure.

In this application, including the definitions below, the term modulemay be replaced with the term circuit. The term module may refer to, bepart of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); adigital, analog, or mixed analog/digital discrete circuit; a digital,analog, or mixed analog/digital integrated circuit; a combinationallogic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor(shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; memory (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by a processor; othersuitable hardware components that provide the described functionality;or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in asystem-on-chip.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/ormicrocode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes,and/or objects. The term shared processor encompasses a single processorthat executes some or all code from multiple modules. The term groupprocessor encompasses a processor that, in combination with additionalprocessors, executes some or all code from one or more modules. The termshared memory encompasses a single memory that stores some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group memory encompasses a memory that,in combination with additional memories, stores some or all code fromone or more modules. The term memory may be a subset of the termcomputer-readable medium. The term computer-readable medium does notencompass transitory electrical and electromagnetic signals propagatingthrough a medium, and may therefore be considered tangible andnon-transitory. Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory tangiblecomputer readable medium include nonvolatile memory, volatile memory,magnetic storage, and optical storage.

The apparatuses and methods described in this application may bepartially or fully implemented by one or more computer programs executedby one or more processors. The computer programs includeprocessor-executable instructions that are stored on at least onenon-transitory tangible computer readable medium. The computer programsmay also include and/or rely on stored data.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein todescribe various modules, signals, antennas, elements, and/orcomponents, these items should not be limited by these terms. Theseterms may be arbitrary and are only used to distinguish one item fromanother item. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical termswhen used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearlyindicated by the context. Thus, a first item discussed herein could betermed a second item without departing from the teachings of the exampleimplementations. As an example and in the claims, the term “secondtransceiver module” may refer to any one of the above disclosed secondtransceiver modules or third transceiver modules.

What is claimed is:
 1. A coexistence system comprising: a first transceiver module, in a first network device, configured to generate at least one first request signal, wherein the first transceiver module operates according to a first wireless communication standard, and wherein the at least one first request signal requests transmission or reception for the first transceiver module; an interface configured to generate a first priority signal based on the at least one first request signal, wherein the first priority signal indicates a first priority level of first data signals corresponding to the at least one first request signal; a second transceiver module, in the first network device, configured to (i) generate at least one second request signal, and (ii) generate a second priority signal, wherein the second transceiver module operates according to a second wireless communication standard, wherein the at least one second request signal requests transmission or reception for the second transceiver module, and wherein the second priority signal indicates a second priority level of second data signals corresponding to the at least one second request signal, wherein the first transceiver module is configured to generate a status signal, the status signal indicates (i) a frequency on which the first transceiver module is transmitting, (ii) whether the first transceiver module is performing a scan, or (iii) a priority level of a signal to be transmitted to or received by the first transceiver module, and the second transceiver module is configured to, based on the status signal, generate a first overlap signal, wherein the first overlap signal indicates whether (i) the transmission or reception of the first transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the second transceiver module with respect to the second data signals, or (ii) the transmission or reception of the second transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the first transceiver module with respect to the first data signals; and an arbitration module configured to (i) based on the first priority level, the second priority level, and the first overlap signal, arbitrate the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal, and (ii) based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal, selectively connect antennas to the first transceiver module and the second transceiver module in one of a plurality of configurations.
 2. The coexistence system of claim 1, further comprising a third transceiver module configured to generate (i) at least one third request signal, and (ii) a third priority signal, wherein: the third transceiver module is configured to operate according to a third wireless standard; the at least one third request signal requests transmission or reception for the third transceiver module; the third priority signal indicates a third priority level of third data signal corresponding to the at least one third request signal; and the arbitration module is configured to (i) based on the third priority level, arbitrate the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, and (ii) based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, selectively connect the first transceiver module, the second transceiver module, and the third transceiver module to the antennas in one of the plurality of configurations.
 3. The coexistence system of claim 1, further comprising a third transceiver module configured to generate (i) at least one third request signal, (ii) a third priority signal, and (iii) a second overlap signal, wherein: the third transceiver module is configured to operate according to a third wireless standard; the at least one third request signal requests permission for the third transceiver module to transmit or receive; the third priority signal indicates a third priority level of third data signal corresponding to the at least one third request signal; the second overlap signal indicates whether (i) the transmission or reception of the first transceiver module or the second transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the third transceiver module with respect to the third data signals, or (ii) the transmission or reception of the second transceiver module or the third transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the first transceiver module with respect to the first data signals; and the arbitration module is configured to (i) based on the third priority level and the second overlap signal, arbitrate the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, and (ii) based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, selectively connect the first transceiver module, the second transceiver module, and the third transceiver module to the antennas in one of the plurality of configurations.
 4. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein: the first transceiver module is configured to transmit first data signals to or receive the first data signals from a second network device via the antennas; and the second transceiver module is configured to transmit second data signals to or receive the second data signals from the second network device via the antennas.
 5. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein the interface is connected between the first transceiver module and the arbitration module.
 6. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein, based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal: the first transceiver module transmits or receives the first data signals via the antennas; and the second transceiver module transmits or receives the second data signals via the antennas.
 7. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein: the first transceiver module is configured to generate a first status signal indicating a status of the first transceiver module; the second transceiver module is configured to generate a first configuration signal based on the first status signal; and the interface comprises a first register module, wherein the first register module is configured to generate the first priority signal based on (i) the at least one first request signal, and (ii) the first configuration signal.
 8. The coexistence system of claim 7, wherein: the interface comprises a scan register module; the scan register module is configured to generate a third priority signal; the third priority signal indicates a priority level of a scan being performed by the first transceiver module; and the arbitration module is configured to, based on the third priority signal, arbitrate the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal.
 9. The coexistence system of claim 8, wherein: the first transceiver module is configured to generate a first scan signal indicating a frequency of the first data signals; the interface comprises a second scan module, wherein the second scan module is configured to generate a second scan signal based on the first scan signal, and wherein the second scan signal indicates the first transceiver module is to perform a scan; and the interface is configured to generate the third priority signal based on the second scan signal.
 10. The coexistence system of claim 9, wherein: the scan register module is configured to generate a third scan signal based on the second scan signal; and the arbitration module is configured to, based on the third scan signal, arbitrate the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal.
 11. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein the status signal indicates (i) a frequency on which the first transceiver module is transmitting, (ii) whether the first transceiver module is performing a scan, and (iii) a priority level of the signal to be transmitted to or received by the first transceiver module.
 12. The coexistence system of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises: a register module configured to (i) receive a first configuration signal from the second transceiver module and the at least one first request signal, and (ii) based on the first configuration signal and the at least one first request signal, generate the first priority signal; a scan enable module configured to (i) receive a first scan signal from the first transceiver module, and (ii) generate a scan enable signal based on the first scan signal, wherein the first scan signal requests that a scan be performed; and a scan register module configured to (i) receive a second configuration signal from the second transceiver module and the scan enable signal, and (ii) based on the second configuration signal and the scan enable signal, generate a second scan signal and third priority signal, wherein the second scan signal indicates whether a scan is to be performed, and wherein the third priority signal indicates a priority level for the scan to be performed.
 13. A method comprising: generating at least one first request signal via a first transceiver module in a network device, wherein the first transceiver module operates according to a first wireless communication standard, and wherein the at least one first request signal requests transmission or reception for the first transceiver module; generating, via an interface, a first priority signal based on the at least one first request signal, wherein the first priority signal indicates a first priority level of first data signals corresponding to the at least one first request signal; generating at least one second request signal and a second priority signal via a second transceiver module, wherein the second transceiver module is in the network device and operates according to a second wireless communication standard, wherein the at least one second request signal requests transmission or reception for the second transceiver module, and wherein the second priority signal indicates a second priority level of second data signals corresponding to the at least one second request signal; generating a status signal at the first transceiver module, the status signal indicates (i) a frequency on which the first transceiver module is transmitting, (ii) whether the first transceiver module is performing a scan, or (iii) a priority level of a signal to be transmitted to or received by the first transceiver module; based on the status signal, generating at the second transceiver module a first overlap signal, wherein the first overlap signal indicates whether (i) the transmission or reception of the first transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the second transceiver module with respect to the second data signals, or (ii) the transmission or reception of the second transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the first transceiver module with respect to the first data signals; based on the first priority level, the second priority level, and the first overlap signal, arbitrating the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal; and based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal, selectively connect antennas to the first transceiver module and the second transceiver module in one of a plurality of configurations.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: generating, via a third transceiver module, (i) at least one third request signal, and (ii) a third priority signal, wherein the at least one third request signal request permission for the third transceiver module to transmit or receive, and wherein the third priority signal indicates a third priority level of third data signal corresponding to the at least one third request signal; and operating the third transceiver module according to a third wireless standard; and based on the third priority level, arbitrating the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal; and based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, selectively connecting the first transceiver module, the second transceiver module, and the third transceiver module to the antennas in one of the plurality of configurations.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: generating, via a third transceiver module, (i) at least one third request signal, (ii) a third priority signal, and (iii) a second overlap signal, wherein the at least one third request signal requests permission for the third transceiver module to transmit or receive, wherein the third priority signal indicates a third priority level of third data signal corresponding to the at least one third request signal, and wherein the second overlap signal indicates whether (i) the transmission or reception of the first transceiver module or the second transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the third transceiver module with respect to the third data signals, or (ii) the transmission or reception of the second transceiver module or the third transceiver module is capable of desensitizing the first transceiver module with respect to the first data signals; operating the third transceiver module according to a third wireless standard; based on the third priority level and the second overlap signal, arbitrating the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal; and based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal, the at least one second request signal, and the at least one third request signal, selectively connecting the first transceiver module, the second transceiver module, and the third transceiver module to the antennas in one of the plurality of configurations.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein: transmitting, via the first transceiver module, first data signals to or receiving the first data signals from a second network device via the antennas; and transmitting, via the second transceiver module, second data signals to or receiving the second data signals from the second network device via the antennas.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising, based on the arbitration of the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal: transmitting or receiving the first data signals via the antennas at the first transceiver module; and transmitting or receiving the second data signals via the antennas at the second transceiver module.
 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising: generating, via the first transceiver module, a first status signal indicating a status of the first transceiver module; generating, via the second transceiver module, a first configuration signal based on the first status signal; generating the first priority signal based on (i) the at least one first request signal, and (ii) the first configuration signal; generating a third priority signal, wherein the third priority signal indicates a priority level of a scan being performed by the first transceiver module; and based on the third priority signal, arbitrating the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: generating, via the first transceiver module, a first scan signal indicating a frequency of the first data signals; generating a second scan signal based on the first scan signal, wherein the second scan signal indicates the first transceiver module is to perform a scan; and generating the third priority signal based on the second scan signal.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: generating a third scan signal based on the second scan signal; and based on the third scan signal, arbitrating the at least one first request signal and the at least one second request signal. 